However, even though both of these celebrations on the surface seem as if they are rejoicing and honoring the pure existence and goodness of their gods, the ludi and festivals are held to, like stated earlier, keep the gods content. Many, if not all, Christian honoring celebration is held to honor god’s existence. Even the celebrations that require a sort of sacrifice, like lent, are purely for celebrating how great and good god is and not being done for free of his wrath.
 These are even more contemporary and non-traditional ways in which more open religious worshipping can occur, such as a bible camp.
This collection of individuals, that share and express common ideals, really encourages ritual and practice in their respective communities. Whether in a widely publicized environment (ancient Roman religion) or in a smaller but still powerful ambience (contemporary times), the contribution to the understanding of their religions is immense. Power is certainly in numbers.
As you can tell, pleasing the gods was very important in ancient Roman culture. Pax deroum, which translates to “peace of the gods,” was the ultimate goal, the zenith, of deity worship. Methods to fund and achieve this goal included sacrifice (sacrificium), prayer, all which happened during these festivals and Ludi events.
	Sacrificial offering have been around since the beginning of mankind. Ancient Roman religion suggests that sacrificial offerings greatly pleased the gods. A Latin phrase that most closely represents this form of worship is “ Do ut abeas,” which means, “ I give so that you may go away.”  The Romans sacrificed so that the gods will essentially be content and not cast bad omens upon them when they needed it the most (such as during a war or the beginning of their harvesting season).
There was a very systematic way in which Romans offered sacrifices to their deities. The animal sacrifices were ritually slain and the innards examined. Afterwards, the meat would be touched by a non-priest and then divided among those attending the sacrifice. Like Augurs, who read the will of the gods through birds right before battle, Haruspices interpreted signs found in the entrails of sacrificed animals. This part of the sacrifice was called extispicium. “They [ Haruspices] learned the normal color, shape, and position of each internal organ, and then what every deviation from the norm meant in terms of signs from the gods.” (Shelton 377). Another example of the systematic character of these rituals is that the offering’s sex had to match the Gods, and white animals were given to the gods of the upper world and black animals were given to the gods of the under world. Pluto for example would be offered a black sheep (“Pluto”). These sacrifices took place outside of the temple of the god that was being pleased.
If the sacrifices and ceremonies were not performed properly then, according to Roman history, there would be consequences. For example, Tullus Hostilius, the 3rd king of Rome, was advised by Numa to perform a ceremony for the god Jupiter after a plague had fallen on Rome.
However Tullus Hostilius did not correctly perform it properly. Thus, Jupiter in anger stroke him dead.
